Ray Chapman

Ray Chapman was a baseball player who spent 8 years with the Cleveland Indians. His career was cut short on Aug 16, 1920. He was playing at the Polo Grounds in New York against the Yankees when he stepped up to bat aginst Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. Carls Mays through him a fast spitball upstairs that hit Chapman in the head. He was not wearing a batting helmet because it was not written that batters had to. The ball hit him in the head and bounced back towards the pitcher. The hit was sou loud that Mays thought it hit the bat so he picked up the ball and threw it to first. Chapman laid motionless on the ground. He would die 12 hours later in a New York hospital being the first and only baseball player to die from being hit by a pitch. In his memory, the players wore black bands with his name on it around their arm and would go on to win the Indians first World Series that year. After that year, Major League baseball banned the spitball and would later make it a rule that baseball players had to wear a batting helmet. This plaque was made shortly after that season. It was hung in League Park for many years until they moved to Cleveland Municipal Stadium where it was rehung. It now hangs on a wall by itself on the lower level of Heritage Park in center field at Progressive Field. Ray Chapman was inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame.

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